Definitive Tyre Thread

[Sevv]

i thought we could start a thread, as i see so many people asking what tires to put on their cars ,hopefully that will help the majority of people

more then happy for anyone to add more information , that would be great

people having 17" wheel its recommended 225/45/R17/Y
18" wheels at 225/40/R18/Y
19" TBC

Speed Ratings:
Basically this states how fast the tire will go without popping of or the sort i usually go for 'Y' rating

Speed Rating	Mile/Hour	Kilometers/Hour		Speed Rating	Miles/Hour	Kilometers/Hour
N	87	140		U	124	200
P	93	150		H	130	210
Q	99	160		V	149	240
R	106	170		Z	150+	240+
S	112	180		W	168	270
T	118	190		Y	186	300

Load Rating: Basically how much a tire will hold per corner , usually you should take into account the weight of the car, the extra load on the tire going around a bend, and with the maximum amount of people in your car , if not im not mistaken you always want to have it holding 300 or may 400 kgs then the car

Tyre Sidewall Explained

You will find the size of a tyre on its sidewall. With a quick explanation as to what the different numbers mean, you will see that it is very quick and very easy to find out a tyre's size.
Looking at the following image, you will see the mixture of letters and numbers: "205 55 R16 91 W"

We have broken down each section in the following table, explaining what each number/letter means:

Sidewell Marking	Explanation
205	Width of the tyre in millimetres
55	Height of the tyre sidewall as a percentage of the width. In this case 55% of 205mm. Also know as the aspect ratio.
R	Radial Construction
16	The diameter of the tyre's inner rim in inches
91	Load Rating of the Tyre. In this case its 615kg
W	Speed Rating. Indicates the maximum speed for the tyre when at full load. In this case 168 mph.
E4	ECE type approval mark, which demonstrates the tyre has been tested as high quality by the European Regulatory Authorities. All Tyres sold by Blackcircles.com carry this mark.

this info was all taken from Tyres Online | Cheap Tyres | Winter Tyres & Car Servicing UK

 

[smurfworth]

Michelin PS3 for me. 10/10

 

[The Governor]

I think most people want to know the best value tyre, so the right balance of grip and longevity. Most people want to be changing at around 17k to 20k miles, rather than every 10k.

It'd be ace to see something that gave an indication of wear versus grip...

 

[Sevv]

I think most people want to know the best value tyre, so the right balance of grip and longevity. Most people want to be changing at around 17k to 20k miles, rather than every 10k.

It'd be ace to see something that gave an indication of wear versus grip...

hey Governor ill try tomorow to add information concerning tread wear on each tire but from what i gather the PS3's and Eagle F1's last the most

 

[The Governor]

Nice one, I'd imagine a table that had the following headings would do it:

Tyre Brand
Average Miles before Replacement
Average cost
Grip rating (1-5)

Woudl be a good way for this community to input and would answer everyone's questions.

 

[S3Alex]

hey Governor ill try tomorow to add information concerning tread wear on each tire but from what i gather the PS3's and Eagle F1's last the most

The Eagle F1 wear rate is much higher than the PS3.

The longest lasting is the awful Bridgestone RE050.

So far I've had both of those as well as PS2s and Toyo R1Rs which also last surprisingly well for a soft compound semi-trackday tyre.

 

[mjr901]

I've had 4 sets of the Bridgestones, 1 set of the Michelin PS3's, 1 set of the Toyo T1R's and 1 set of the Conti 5's........ in about 4 years and all on 8P's! (170TDI + 2 x S3's)

PS3/Conti 5 is the best. (Conti 5 has better rim protection and offers the same grip as the PS3)

 

[Sevv]

Fuel Consumption:

Michelins PS3 = 4.59 liters per 100km

Continentals 3/5 4.7 liters per 100km

Bridgestone 4.8 liters per 100km.

Mileage is the range depending on spirited driving or average driving or city/ highway driving

Conti Extreme Contact between 20 / 25,000 miles [road noise problem]

Conti Sport Contact 3 up to 30,000miles

Conti Sport Contact 5 12-18, Miles

P-Zero Nero 20-28,000 miles [road noise problem]

Michelin PS2 20-30,000 miles

Michelin PS3 25-33,000 miles

Michelin Super Sport 30- 35,000 miles [comes with warranty stating it will last up to if not exceeding 30,000miles [Michelin website]]

Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 20-22,000 miles

Toyo Proxes R1R 15-20,000 miles

Bridgestone S04 15-20,000 miles

took me forever to find the information and give is as accurately as possible , as usual any addition are welcome, thank for the correction Alex

 

[Sevv]

for some reason it wouldnt allow me to add it onto the first post i put in the thread :s any moderators can help pretty please

 

[The Governor]

Nice one Sevv - I think a good way to collate the info would be using Excel, that could calculate the averages etc, I wonder if we can link an Excel file to a post..?

Obvisouly there will be variations for driving style across all brands, but I'd expect the averaging to flatten that out a bit, assuming we had enough takers.

I can't really comment yet as I'm still on my first set of Bridgsones at 15k!

I'm happy to collate the info into Excel if that helps

 

[Sevv]

Nice one Sevv - I think a good way to collate the info would be using Excel, that could calculate the averages etc, I wonder if we can link an Excel file to a post..?

Obvisouly there will be variations for driving style across all brands, but I'd expect the averaging to flatten that out a bit, assuming we had enough takers.

I can't really comment yet as I'm still on my first set of Bridgsones at 15k!

I'm happy to collate the info into Excel if that helps

yeah sure i wouldnt mind at all , anyone and everyone is free to contribute it would just make the thread stronger and more informative

 

[nluk100]

I didn't think you could get the Mich super sport in the correct size for the S3?

 

[Sevv]

I didn't think you could get the Mich super sport in the correct size for the S3?

you can - Michelin Pilot Super Sport

 

[Sevv]

bump... im sure more people can vote then 37

 

[radhaz]

I went with

225/40ZR-18 Continental ExtremeContact DW XL and a set of these wheels: 18x8 Borbet LV5 Anthracite Love the look, and the ride is very good. I had what I thought was a bad left rear wheel bearing, but new tires sorted it. Oops, you are asking after performance tires. If I could delete the post, I would.

 

[Sevv]

I went with

225/40ZR-18 Continental ExtremeContact DW XL and a set of these wheels: 18x8 Borbet LV5 Anthracite Love the look, and the ride is very good. I had what I thought was a bad left rear wheel bearing, but new tires sorted it. Oops, you are asking after performance tires. If I could delete the post, I would.

its all good mate, u did answer it partly

 

[SteveBAM]

don’t know if I should be posting this here but my S3 needs a new set o tyres. I have come down to these 3 : Continental Sport Contact5, Dunlop sport maxx RT and Toyo R1R’s. Now the last one is more of a performance tyre than the first 2 and have read a lot of good reviews about it. I was going to go for the Dunlops till I saw the toyos today at a tyre store and liked them. But I'm confused as to which one I should choose. My car is not a daily driver and ill probably do 50-80klm per week. The climate here in Greece is warm and dry for at least 7-8 months of the year and I do like to punish my little S3 around the twisty’s. My only concern is tyre wear with the toyos and road noise.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Sevv]

don’t know if I should be posting this here but my S3 needs a new set o tyres. I have come down to these 3 : Continental Sport Contact5, Dunlop sport maxx RT and Toyo R1R’s. Now the last one is more of a performance tyre than the first 2 and have read a lot of good reviews about it. I was going to go for the Dunlops till I saw the toyos today at a tyre store and liked them. But I'm confused as to which one I should choose. My car is not a daily driver and ill probably do 50-80klm per week. The climate here in Greece is warm and dry for at least 7-8 months of the year and I do like to punish my little S3 around the twisty’s. My only concern is tyre wear with the toyos and road noise.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

the toyo's would be a nice choice 'IF' its not a daily try Michelin Super Sports they have a 30K miles guarantee straight from them...

and you have dry and warm whether so either would be a good choice but the R1R's are 10-15k miles less (milage wise) but if you do 2-3000 miles a yr then i wouldnt worry about it too much as your set would last you a few years

 

[chinnyhill10]

2 months of enforced Nexen N8000's on the front of my car now and they aren't as disastrous as I thought they might be. Had a ruptured tyre over Christmas on the front and was 200 miles from home so it was the Nexens or nothing (was during Xmas break, late in the day and all the garage had).

No they aren't as grippy as the 2 Dunlops that came off the front. Very slightly nosier and handling isn't quite as precise but it's all quite marginal. Online figures suggest their biggest shortfall is in fact fuel economy.

Lets be clear, no way would I choose them as my first choice, but on the other hand they aren't so bad as I am ripping them off straight away. If you are stuck like I was, my advice is don't let the Korean name scare you off. The price for what you get seems quite good.

If you wanted a cheap but half decent set of tyres for a few months before selling your motor, I'd suggest the Nexens are ideal.

However with only 2 months driving as yet have no idea about wear rate!

 

[miw615]

Is there a web site that shows details of tyre = roadnoise?

 

[Lee540]

Really like my new Bridgestone S001's. Cured the vague rear end feeling I was getting from my PS3's.

 

[Sevv]

Is there a web site that shows details of tyre = roadnoise?

not to my kowledge mate, but they say usually tell u the db's the tire gives off i would check Tyre reviews, tests and ratings | the online tyre guide

 

[Sevv]

Really like my new Bridgestone S001's. Cured the vague rear end feeling I was getting from my PS3's.

hmm i just hate bridgestone got no trust watsoever in them allot off understeer im getting breaking traction on first gear 2.5K RPM launches which is nothing , i would stick personally to PS3 or SuperSports

 

[jimojameso]

Great thread, can one of the admin's sticky it?

I run PS3's all round and am really impressed with grip and noise. Will keep you all updated on longetivity.

 

[Lordloverocket]

Yokohama AD08's

 

[Sevv]

Pirelli's Bridgestone and Toyo's have hard sidewalls as compared to the michellins, goodyears and defo the conti (fast road driving/track use)

any of the admins can possibly stick this to the stickies please ?

 

[Sevv]

.

 

[miw615]

not to my kowledge mate, but they say usually tell u the db's the tire gives off i would check Tyre reviews, tests and ratings | the online tyre guide

cheers mate

 

[Nutkin]

I have 235s on mine :/.

I have always liked Vredsteins, for a mix of grip and value.